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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I never thought I'd root so hard for a preacher!
I liked finding the connections as I went through, I think I'll have to read it again someday to figure them all out
I liked finding the connections as I went through, I think I'll have to read it again someday to figure them all out
Danticat is a master, and she's still so young. Beautiful, evocative stories, dripping with pathos, and yet they work. Fantastic.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
At first it felt repetitious, then I realized it was intentionally using the same theme but from different angles with separate short stories - and handling it very nicely.
3.5/5
It took me much longer to read this than was probably good for it, due to catching up on school work and being admittedly biased towards challenge reading works on the docket. Still, [b:A Brief History of Seven Killings|20893314|A Brief History of Seven Killings|Marlon James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1399045083s/20893314.jpg|40236328] is surviving the treatment, so it's also a matter of literary engagement as much as anything else. I've also never encountered Danticat in novel form, so my picking up this work on a whim of cultivating another four work author for the most read list resulted in a more placid reading than I aimed for. All in all, I feel distanced from this work, and immense amounts of daily multitasking aside, I felt during the narrative that nothing new was being brought to the table outside of a relatively novel locale (Danticat may still be my only read Haitian author), and interjections of Creole and other bits of non-neo-Euro culture. The main story of reconciliation of trauma, though, didn't trust me. That's fine, in a way. It's obviously not a story that's meant for me.
When I read Danticat's short story cycle [b:Krik? Krak!|600404|Krik? Krak!|Edwidge Danticat|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1306476363s/600404.jpg|2903], I was delighted by the motifs running through the body of stories, subtle intimations of the world that filled the void between stories of a US-Haitian landscape. In the form of a novel, this was less impressive, and the long gaps between my reading, combined with dramatic shifts in perspective between chapters meant I had to look back at least once to understand how these characters and that I wasn't going to get any future filling of the first narrative that formed my first impressions. Disappointing, especially in combination with following the headspace of someone who was forgiven on a fluke rather alienating, as when crime, guilt, and punishment are controlled via arbitrary means, it requires more of a level of entertainment to keep the narrative going. This, however, is Haiti's reckoning, not mine. It might have been better for me to have randomly picked up [b:Breath, Eyes, Memory|5186|Breath, Eyes, Memory|Edwidge Danticat|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423684958s/5186.jpg|459447] rather than this one, as its elevation on various (white) lists attests to a more accessible (for me) meaning, but this was the work that popped up, and while I didn't love it, I also didn't hate it. All in all, I definitely didn't give Danticat her due, but as this is all unpaid amateur work, I'm willing to let it stand for now.
I can see myself trying more Danticat in the future. I've had a rood run with her on average, and the fact that this work didn't prove as well as the previous ones had a great deal to do with the limited attention I was able to afford it. For now, I must admit, I'm awfully sick of reading according to yesteryear's layout in addition to pernicious shifting of the most read authors order, so I'll be doing my best to pick willy nilly, admittedly in the narrowed down scheme I have to resort to when confronted with almost 500 potential reading choices. That's a ways into the future, so I can only hope I'll have cleaned out my challenge grid by the time the semester is over. I already have to think about next semester's course load, and perhaps even the summer ones if I have the energy for it, so my reading may suffer in the future, unfortunately. I can only hope I can keep balancing for a little while longer, and then enjoy the fruits of my labor.
It took me much longer to read this than was probably good for it, due to catching up on school work and being admittedly biased towards challenge reading works on the docket. Still, [b:A Brief History of Seven Killings|20893314|A Brief History of Seven Killings|Marlon James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1399045083s/20893314.jpg|40236328] is surviving the treatment, so it's also a matter of literary engagement as much as anything else. I've also never encountered Danticat in novel form, so my picking up this work on a whim of cultivating another four work author for the most read list resulted in a more placid reading than I aimed for. All in all, I feel distanced from this work, and immense amounts of daily multitasking aside, I felt during the narrative that nothing new was being brought to the table outside of a relatively novel locale (Danticat may still be my only read Haitian author), and interjections of Creole and other bits of non-neo-Euro culture. The main story of reconciliation of trauma, though, didn't trust me. That's fine, in a way. It's obviously not a story that's meant for me.
When I read Danticat's short story cycle [b:Krik? Krak!|600404|Krik? Krak!|Edwidge Danticat|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1306476363s/600404.jpg|2903], I was delighted by the motifs running through the body of stories, subtle intimations of the world that filled the void between stories of a US-Haitian landscape. In the form of a novel, this was less impressive, and the long gaps between my reading, combined with dramatic shifts in perspective between chapters meant I had to look back at least once to understand how these characters and that I wasn't going to get any future filling of the first narrative that formed my first impressions. Disappointing, especially in combination with following the headspace of someone who was forgiven on a fluke rather alienating, as when crime, guilt, and punishment are controlled via arbitrary means, it requires more of a level of entertainment to keep the narrative going. This, however, is Haiti's reckoning, not mine. It might have been better for me to have randomly picked up [b:Breath, Eyes, Memory|5186|Breath, Eyes, Memory|Edwidge Danticat|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423684958s/5186.jpg|459447] rather than this one, as its elevation on various (white) lists attests to a more accessible (for me) meaning, but this was the work that popped up, and while I didn't love it, I also didn't hate it. All in all, I definitely didn't give Danticat her due, but as this is all unpaid amateur work, I'm willing to let it stand for now.
I can see myself trying more Danticat in the future. I've had a rood run with her on average, and the fact that this work didn't prove as well as the previous ones had a great deal to do with the limited attention I was able to afford it. For now, I must admit, I'm awfully sick of reading according to yesteryear's layout in addition to pernicious shifting of the most read authors order, so I'll be doing my best to pick willy nilly, admittedly in the narrowed down scheme I have to resort to when confronted with almost 500 potential reading choices. That's a ways into the future, so I can only hope I'll have cleaned out my challenge grid by the time the semester is over. I already have to think about next semester's course load, and perhaps even the summer ones if I have the energy for it, so my reading may suffer in the future, unfortunately. I can only hope I can keep balancing for a little while longer, and then enjoy the fruits of my labor.
I loved this book so very much - beautifully written, haunting and wise. The story follows a Haitian man in two parts of his life, one in Haiti 1960's and one in NYC post immigration.
Highly recommended, both for general reading and for those doing the "around the world" challenge.
Highly recommended, both for general reading and for those doing the "around the world" challenge.
One of my favorite books by Danticat, i will DEFINITELY have to read it again when im ready. It was very reflective and insightful, touched on difficult topics.